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| It's been super cold here in Louisville, so I've been training down in the basement. The odds are good that you're dealing with cold weather, as well - so let's cover some important cold weather training tips. |
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
I trained down in the basement last
night. It was way too cold to go outside
to train, which is what I like to do when-
ever I can.
But even in the basement it was cold.
I wore three layers PLUS a hat!
And that was INSIDE.
You can imagine what it would have
been like outside. Frostbite weather.
But many of you probably live where
it's much colder than it is here - and
that makes training a real challenge -
even if you train in a garage or
basement.
So I thought I'd cover some cold weather
training tips.
First of all - do what I did last night. Wear
layers. Layers are your friend.
In other words, bundle up.
Don't worry if you look like the Michelin
Man.
The important thing is to stay warm.
And that brings me to tip no. 2.
It's hard to get warmed up, loose and
limber when it's really cold - so make
adjustments and replace exercises that
require you to be loose and limber with
movements that don't require as much
mobility.
For example, do high pulls instead of
snatches or cleans.
Or do Trap Bar deadlifts and shrugs
instead of high pulls.
Or try back squats instead of pulls.
These movements don't require nearly
as much flexibility and mobility to
perform, so if it's hard to warm-up
and get loose, they work a lot better.
They're also easier to perform when
you're wearing extra layers to stay
warm. Olympic lifting is hard to do
when it's a three layer workout.
And speaking of squats and Trap Bar
deadlifts, here's another cold weather
tip for you.
Try making them your first exercise -
because they help warm you up when
it's arctic cold in your training quarters!
I also don't try to handle maximum
weights when the weather is really
cold. It's much easier to pull a muscle
or tweak an old injury or sore spot
when it's cold, so why take chances?
You can apply a similar approach to
any type of training program, workouts
or equipment. The idea is to adjust what
you do (and perhaps change the order
of your exercises) based on how cold it
is and how difficult it is to get warmed
up.
For example, you might do something
as simple as including extra warm-up
sets when it's cold.
Or you might start things out with some
cardio training just to get warmed up.
Or you might do sets of five instead of
heavy singles.
Or skip the heavy stuff entirely and do
bodyweight training.
I could give many more examples, but
you get the idea.
Your training program has to be flexible.
Give yourself the freedom to make cold
weather adjustments. It can make all
the difference in the world.
Of course, if you train at a commercial
gym that's the same temperature all
year round, the outside temperature
doesn't matter as much.
But for garage gorillas, it makes a very
big difference. And that goes double for
older Dinos.
What about you?
Do you have any cold weather training
tips to share with your fellow Dinos?
If you do, shoot me an email and let me
know how you deal with three-layer
workouts.
As always, thanks for reading and have a
great day. If you train today, make it a
good one!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. The January 2018 issue of The Dinosaur
Files will be coming out very soon - but in the
meantime, if you missed the Oct, Nov and Dec
issues, grab them now:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_files.html
P.S. 2. My other books and courses are right
here at Dino Headquarters:
Hard-copy and PDF
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
Kindle
http://www.brookskubik.com/kindle.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day:
"When it's cold, bundle up and do
squats!"
-- Brooks Kubik
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